History of the Machine Gun
The machine gun was invented in 1884 by an American man named Hiram Maxim, his design was oil-cooled. The machine gun was known as the Maxim gun because of it's inventor. Maxim offered the maxim gun to Britain for use first before anyone else. After Maxim demonstrated the gun to Britain, the British army did not want it because they thought that it was improper for war, saw no use for it, and thought of it as a burden. Germany heard of this and produced their own design of the machine gun. By the time war broke out in 1914, Germany had loads of machine guns for use in battle. By 1915 Britain came to it's senses and had started to use the Maxim gun in Battle. Machine guns were most of the time air or water cooled, but could have been considered as a small burden mostly because of how they frequently jammed and overheated. During world war 1, machine guns were used mostly in defensive tactics because lines of them could be set up and they could obviously easily take out lines of charging enemy soldiers. As time progressed, more and more versions of the machine gun were invented. Portable one man guns (i.e. submachine guns and light machine guns) were invented making things easier rather than using these burdening hard to transport guns, but that was in 1918, much later in world war 1. Hiram Maxim^ What is a Machine Gun? The proper definition, defined by the National Rifle Association, for a machine gun is " a fully automatic rifle, generally taking a typical rifle cartidge, or a more powerful one meant specifically for machine guns. They are too heavy to be used by most people without it being mounted on a tripod, vehicle, or other trong strady mount." A machine gun can also be defined as an automatic gun and a portable weapon that was used in World War I. This gun fires out rifle catridges, which are usually held by ammunition belts, and/or magazines(devices that store the rifle cartridges either inside or outside of the gun). Machine guns are extremely powerful guns, and they can shoot up to one hundred rounds per minute. Machine guns were most often carried by means of transportation, especially during World War I. Forms of transportation included ships, aircraft, and ground vehicles. Who used it?
The first and Primary user of the machine gun was Germany, because they ended up obtaining a head start on the rest of Europe after every one else turned the machine gun down. Britain, after having the machine gun demonstrated to them turned it down because they had believed it to be improper in battle meanwhile, Germany was making their own design of the machine gun in big numbers. After using the machine gun alot in battle, Britain reconsidered what they decided about the gun and ended up using it. When was it used?
At the beginning of world war 1, Germany had started to use their design of the machine gun in great quantities and were the first to do so. The machine guns were used by Germany a great amount during the Battle of Somme in 1916. Where was it used?
During the Battle of Somme, they were used North of the somme river between Arras and Albert by the German Forces.
Importance of the Machine Gun: The machine gun was an extremely important weapon during World War I because it was used as both an offensive and defensive weapon. After the initial machine gun was invented, different forms of this machine gun were created over time. These different machine guns were used on aircrafts, vehicles, and for naval purposes. The guns became easily transported, despite their heavy weight. The guns were a helpful addition to the many soldiers fighting in World War I because they killed opponents very easily. The importance of these guns was shown in their first use, in the Battle of Omdurman(before WWI). The British decided to test out Maxim's new guns in this battle, and within several minutes, the attacking line of the Sudan soldiers was shot to the ground. The outcome of this battle proved the power of machine guns, and their advantages in war. Machine guns were more useful than other guns used at this time because they had the fire-power of 100 guns. In addition, the use of machine guns proves that war's technology was becoming more advanced over time.
History of the Machine Gun
The machine gun was invented in 1884 by an American man named Hiram Maxim, his design was oil-cooled. The machine gun was known as the Maxim gun because of it's inventor. Maxim offered the maxim gun to Britain for use first before anyone else. After Maxim demonstrated the gun to Britain, the British army did not want it because they thought that it was improper for war, saw no use for it, and thought of it as a burden. Germany heard of this and produced their own design of the machine gun. By the time war broke out in 1914, Germany had loads of machine guns for use in battle. By 1915 Britain came to it's senses and had started to use the Maxim gun in Battle. Machine guns were most of the time air or water cooled, but could have been considered as a small burden mostly because of how they frequently jammed and overheated. During world war 1, machine guns were used mostly in defensive tactics because lines of them could be set up and they could obviously easily take out lines of charging enemy soldiers. As time progressed, more and more versions of the machine gun were invented. Portable one man guns (i.e. submachine guns and light machine guns) were invented making things easier rather than using these burdening hard to transport guns, but that was in 1918, much later in world war 1.
Hiram Maxim^
What is a Machine Gun?
The proper definition, defined by the National Rifle Association, for a machine gun is " a fully automatic rifle, generally taking a typical rifle cartidge, or a more powerful one meant specifically for machine guns. They are too heavy to be used by most people without it being mounted on a tripod, vehicle, or other trong strady mount." A machine gun can also be defined as an automatic gun and a portable weapon that was used in World War I. This gun fires out rifle catridges, which are usually held by ammunition belts, and/or magazines(devices that store the rifle cartridges either inside or outside of the gun). Machine guns are extremely powerful guns, and they can shoot up to one hundred rounds per minute. Machine guns were most often carried by means of transportation, especially during World War I. Forms of transportation included ships, aircraft, and ground vehicles.
Who used it?
The first and Primary user of the machine gun was Germany, because they ended up obtaining a head start on the rest of Europe after every one else turned the machine gun down. Britain, after having the machine gun demonstrated to them turned it down because they had believed it to be improper in battle meanwhile, Germany was making their own design of the machine gun in big numbers. After using the machine gun alot in battle, Britain reconsidered what they decided about the gun and ended up using it.
When was it used?
At the beginning of world war 1, Germany had started to use their design of the machine gun in great quantities and were the first to do so. The machine guns were used by Germany a great amount during the Battle of Somme in 1916.
Where was it used?
During the Battle of Somme, they were used North of the somme river between Arras and Albert by the German Forces.
Importance of the Machine Gun:
The machine gun was an extremely important weapon during World War I because it was used as both an offensive and defensive weapon. After the initial machine gun was invented, different forms of this machine gun were created over time. These different machine guns were used on aircrafts, vehicles, and for naval purposes. The guns became easily transported, despite their heavy weight. The guns were a helpful addition to the many soldiers fighting in World War I because they killed opponents very easily. The importance of these guns was shown in their first use, in the Battle of Omdurman(before WWI). The British decided to test out Maxim's new guns in this battle, and within several minutes, the attacking line of the Sudan soldiers was shot to the ground. The outcome of this battle proved the power of machine guns, and their advantages in war. Machine guns were more useful than other guns used at this time because they had the fire-power of 100 guns. In addition, the use of machine guns proves that war's technology was becoming more advanced over time.
Sources(Tyler):
1. http://firstworldwar.com/weaponry/machineguns.htm
"Weapons of War: Machine Guns." Ed. Michael Duffy. 3 May 2003. 20 Mar. 2009.
2. http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm
"Battles: The Batle of the Somme, 1916." Ed. Michael Duffy. 11 Aug. 2001. 22 Mar. 2009 <http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm>.
3. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWmaxim.htm
Simkin, John. "Hiram Maxim." Http:www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/. Sept. 1997. 22 Mar. 2009.
4. http://science.howstuffworks.com/machine-gun.htm
Harris, Tom. "How Machine Guns Work." 22 Mar. 2009.
Picture Sites(Tyler):
1. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/machine-gun-maxim.jpg
Sources(Megan):
1. "First World War.com - Weapons of War - Machine Guns." First World War.com - A multimedia history of World War One. 18 Mar. 2009 <http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/machineguns.htm.>
2. "Dave Aronson: Guns: What The Terms REALLY Mean!." Dave Aronson: Dave's Domain. 21 Mar. 2009 <http://www.davearonson.net/gun/guntech.html>.
3. Wallace, Irving , and David Wallechinsky. "Trivia on Military and War Weapons the Machine Gun | Trivia Library." Trivia on Movies, Music, TV, Sports, Science & More | Trivia-Library.com. 22 Mar. 2009
<http://www.trivia-library.com/b/military-and-war-weapons-the-machine-gun.htm>.
Picture Sites(Megan):
1. http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/28/60728-004-BCF9187D.jpg